Port Shepstone court grants R50 000 bail in Hawks cocaine theft case

SABC News (YouTube) reports that a 49-year-old Pretoria businessman, Lucas Legabe, was granted R50 000 bail by the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court on charges of theft and dealing in drugs. The case concerns 541 kg of cocaine, valued at about R216 million, that was stolen from the Hawks premises in Port Shepstone during a burglary in November 2021.

The court imposed strict conditions. Legabe must report to the Brooklyn police station every Monday, at a time of his choosing, and hand over his passport, his identity document and his travel documents. The magistrate also restricted his movement, saying the court did not want any contact between him and the witnesses in the case.

How the consignment got to Port Shepstone

The cocaine was seized in June 2021 during an inspection at a container depot in Isipingo, south of Durban. It was then moved roughly 100 kilometres to Port Shepstone for storage at the Hawks premises. Five months later, in November 2021, the consignment was stolen from that premises.

The state’s case rests largely on an investigating officer’s affidavit. Investigators believe the group gained access through a broken window, bent the burglar guards and entered the property. The bricks in which the cocaine was stored were taken, but the plastic wrappings were left behind. Some of those wrappings were later found in sewer pipes near the premises.

The state told the court it has about 120 witness statements. Two of those statements identified Legabe as one of the perpetrators. He was arrested last month in Pretoria.

Why the magistrate granted bail

The state opposed bail, arguing that the safety of witnesses was a concern if Legabe were released. It also told the court that one of the other people under investigation in the matter was killed in 2022, and that the circumstances of that death are not known.

The magistrate weighed that against what was before her. Legabe has no previous conviction involving violence, and the court found no solid evidence that he was a flight risk or a danger to witnesses. She said a distinction had to be drawn between the possibility and the probability of a risk to safety, and granted bail on that basis.

She also noted that the state did not give enough information on why the investigation has taken so long. The theft happened in 2021 and the arrest came last month, almost five years later.

The defence argued that the state did not have enough evidence to hold Legabe. It told the court he owns several businesses, including a butchery and a logistics company in Pretoria, that he has five children and family to care for, and that he has lived at his property for years, which the defence said gives him ties to the community.

What the state still has to finish

The state asked for an October date, but told the court it still has reports outstanding. These include data analysis of Legabe’s cellphone devices, an investigation by the Asset Forfeiture Unit into his businesses and how they are conducted, and a forensic investigation into his finances. Both the court and the defence accepted that this work will take time, and a revised date was agreed.

Legabe will return to Pretoria and is expected back in the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court on 1 December.

For readers following the case, the next dated step is that appearance. The bail conditions stay in force until then, which means a weekly visit to the Brooklyn police station and no travel on the passport now held by the court.